2. Contact Info

3. Dealer Selection

It has been more than a month since we got our 2012 Volkswagen Passat TDI back from an Ohio dealer after a co-worker abused the gearbox. The new gearbox and clutch are operating perfectly, though one driver has some issues with its execution.

“The engine feels disconnected from the transmission and the transmission seems disconnected from the car” says 2012 Car of the Year juror Jim Hall, a criticism he had before the shifting incident. “Yet, as a package, it all works. I’m not fond of the car’s near-stump-puller first gear. I suspect the drivetrain package would work better with DSG and shift paddles.”

As a daily driver, the Passat TDI offers near-large car comfort with good noise, vibration and harshness characteristics, and torquey traffic-merge launches. The car spent a lot of time on freeways in our first three or four months in service. Last month, it was more of an around-town commuter more befitting typical use.

“Excellent car to game for max fuel economy without the folly of psycho-hypermiling. I would regularly find myself in fourth gear at 25 mph just to get my average up,” Hall adds.

Our latest fillup covered 672.9 miles and included mostly Jim’s driving, for an average of 48.6 mpg. The fillup before that covered my trip to Milwaukee for an upcoming Motor Trend Classic story. I averaged 38.2 mpg.

The diesel Passat could hit an indicated 52-53 mpg on longer drives around town, such as when I drove the car to Chrysler‘s 2013 model launch at the Chelsea Proving Grounds. The thermometer hit 101 degrees Fahrenheit and I had the a/c on full blast all the way, yet averaged 52.8 mpg, according to the instrument panel, for the 50+ mile drive.

Gasoline prices in Metro Detroit topped $4 per gallon for regular unleaded by early May, eventually easing back down to about $3.50 by June. We paid $4.09 per gallon for ultra-low sulfur diesel until the end of May, when it dropped to $3.99. It’s since dropped to $3.89 per gallon. Thanks to the Passat’s 600+ mile range, we can drive past refueling stations during those price spikes.

This gives the car a sort of double personality. It has the kind of capaciousness that American customers want when gas is $3 per gallon, while it makes the kind of fuel mileage that gets consumers to shift to compact cars and smaller when gas prices rise past $4 per gallon. Analysts tell me that big cars and even pickups are becoming popular again as gas prices come down.

An upcoming drive to Metro Milwaukee will push total mileage over 10,000, so it’s time for the Passat’s first scheduled maintenance This includes an including oil change, brake pad check, and topping of the AdBlue (urea) exhaust aftertreatement fluid.

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